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Is My Personal Brand Where It Should Be? 5 Tips That WIll Help To Improve the Brand Called “You”

You’ve done it all. You checked your Google grade, created a Brand-Yourself account, deleted any negative, embarrassing, or unrrelevant content of yourself off all social media sites, linked your personal website with your Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Plaxo, Spoke, Google Profile and any other blog accounts. Your biography, interests, and resume are all up-to-date and you come back to your site regularly to see your Google grade rise as your social network slowly grows. Although you may be thinking that you’re the perfect job candidate and employers (as well as brands, other people, etc.) will be flocking your way, you may not be getting the attention you deserve. Here’s why:

1.) There’s More To A Personal Brand Than Just Showing Up On Google

Having your websites, social networks, blogs, and anything else appear on Google is a fantastic sign that you’re on the fast track to personal branding success. However, as with most things in life it’s not so much about the quantity of your content as it is about the quality. For example, you can choose to buy a plain white t-shirt because it matches anything you’ll wear OR you can buy a yellow graphic tee. The yellow t-shirt will still match most outfits but most importantly it stands out next to the plain, bland white tee. It shows personality and it isn’t as safe. Taking risks online is just as important (if not more) than in real life. As times are changing try to steer away from saving your resume as a word document and instead go bold by creating an infographic, collage, or a t-shirt. More ideas here.

Looking confident online can be tricky especially since you don’t want to come off sounding like a know-it all snob. It’s important to sell yourself, but there’s a right and a wrong way to do this. Even after your personal brand gets more recognition, never directly call out a company or announce that you’re better than so and so. If someone criticized or bashed you online, keep calm and carry on. Online drama in unnecessary and is completely avoidable. That’s a sure fire way to tarnish your brand and will make gateway for others to call you out using social media. Sometimes constructive criticism can help us realize aspects of ourselves we’ve overlooked, which in turn can help us grow and improve.

2.) You Don’t Have A Competitive Advantage

What have you said or done recently that the average person hasn’t? Was there a special event or moment in your life that made you come to a realization? Do you have a motive or specific reason for reaching your goals, dreams, aspirations? Basically, what’s your story? It’s all about your delivery and how you say what’s important to you in particular. If you speak honestly and from the heart, your story should be original and genuine enough to portray that competitive advantage employers, recruiters, and customers look for. What makes you different and why should we choose YOU? Before someone buys what you have to say, you have to have something to offer that they can use and later invest time in. Give them a reason they can’t resist and impress them by thinking outside of the box.

3.) Your Online Presence Doesn’t Match Your Real-Life Personality

You follow bloggers, Twitterers, and colleagues. Your contact information is easily accessible, you help others in the industry, and you give people a reason to talk about your brand in a positive way. Your communication couldn’t get any better, right? Think again. Although it may not seem like an important branding strategy, consistency is just as important face-to-face as it is online. If you can go hours on end typing about your views and opinions on blogs, you shouldn’t get tongue tied doing the same in person. As verbal communication becomes less and less common with the growth of social media sites, it’s still very important to stay true to who you are. Before you write something about yourself online, ensure that it’s true, accurate, and something you’d want to share with someone upon meeting them for the first time. If you wouldn’t say it or act it in real-life, don’t share it online.

4.) You Don’t Stay Active Outside Of Your Blog/Work

It’s OK if your hobbies and interests stayed consistent for a couple of years, but have you picked up any new ones along the way? When was the last time you volunteered your time or took part in a service project to better your community? Giving up time and not expecting anything in return shows strength in character and portrays a team player. In the corporate world especially, it’s important to show that you work well in groups, enjoy staying active, and are aware of your environment. You may find that picking up a sport may be too difficult to fit into your busy schedule, but even finding time to explore a new talent, cooking a new meal, or picking up an interesting book may be enough to start a dialogue. This will make you more prone to sharing new things with others, it opens up new doors for conversation, and it’s a great way to meet new people who you wouldn’t otherwise. Every encounter can become an opportunity.

5.) You Haven’t Established Clear Goals Or Shown Signs Of Meeting Any Of Them Previously

How do you want to be perceived online? Who are you aiming at? What’s your target audience? Have your image goals been met? Before assuming that your personal brand is exactly where it needs to be, make sure you answered all your branding questions. It may be that you’re just to utilizing all the tools available to you. If someone wrote an article about you, did you post the link on your personal website and LinkedIn? Did you post any presentations, conference photos, or recordings to your sites?

There’s always room for improvement and you may find that there is no final end to successful personal branding because changes will always be made and things will not always go as planned so changes must be made. Show your knowledge and expertise as much as possible. If you got it, flaunt it.

Always remember that the greatest things in life have been done little by little, your brand will grow as long as you water it a bit each day.

About Sylwia Dziedzic

Sylwia Dziedzic is a Social Media/Customer Acquisition/Online Content Strategist for Brand-Yourself.com She is a junior dual majoring in Information Technology/Marketing Management/minor in Writing from the School of Information Studies and Whitman School of Management at Syracuse University.
http://SEDZIEDZ.brand-yourself.com/

Is My Personal Brand Where It Should Be? 5 Tips That WIll Help To Improve the Brand Called “You” http://ow.ly/5OAAF #personalbranding

http://www.essetinoconnexions.com Auret @ Essetino Connexions

The biggest thing for me that stood out in this article is that your brand should be consistent online AND offline. I think a lot of people separate their ‘online’ persona from their ‘offline’ persona. We get so into making sure our Twitter, websites, SEO, graphics, Facebook, etc, all matches with what we’re trying to achieve, that we forget about keeping our brand consistent/true after turning off the computer. I completely agree about not saying things in your blog that you wouldn’t say in real life. Meeting people offline and getting involved in events/organizations specific to your niche market can bring exciting opportunities, in addition to sending people to your website. Great article, Sylwia!

Your post is a great source of knowledge for me, each point you discuss over here is valuable and admirable. Thanks for the great share, keep it continue.

Sdziedzic

I’m so happy to hear that-thank you! This post will hopefully help those who are struggling with mixed online/offline identities & those who aren’t sure where their personal brands stand. Glad to help!

These are all great tips for personal branding. I especially agree with your emphasis on consistency on and off the internet. A lot of people have problems maintaining this, and I think a great way to solve this problem is to get feedback from family and friends about what they think about the brand you’ve established, and use that make sure your brand is authentic. If you’ve created a personal brand with authenticity and an understanding of self, then consistency shouldn’t be a problem! Here is a link to another blog about personal branding tips: http://blog.identified.com/2011/08/3-tips-to-creating-a-personal-brand-for-success.html

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